The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's once-lucrative car business is going under - but rather than face the music, he's spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His exasperated wife Imelda is selling off her jewellery on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attentions of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way to her final exams. And twelve-year-old PJ, in debt to local sociopath 'Ears' Moran, is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home.
Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the road, a casual favour to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil - can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written - is there still time to find a happy ending?
Paul Murray, an inventive Irish writer, has created a deliciously spiralling novel with four distinct character voices. Both hilarious and tragic at the same time, the story tells of a dysfunctional well-to-do family who reside in an Irish village. With the family business teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, both the parents and their two teen children are striving to find meaning in the face of loss and disappointments.
This beautifully written book—completely insightful and reflective of its awkward and unfulfilled four characters—is chock full of drama and humour as well as denial and heartbreak. A must-read!
